beyond nature 81
More than a hundred ancient images of Icarus and Daedalus are
known. Many of them show Daedalus at work surrounded by his tools,
making the wings; others show him attaching the wings to his son, Icarus,
and Icarus falling from the sky. In Roman times, the story continued as a
favorite poignant subject for artists, appearing on carved gems, molded
clay lamps, bronze figurines, reliefs, and frescoes. A large group of Roman
cameos and glass gems illustrate the story, while several murals in Pom-
peii capture the moment of Icarus’s death, with a horrified Daedalus hov-
ering above his son’s broken body on the seashore. The myth’s merging
of optimism and despair made it a compelling allegorical topos in the
Middle Ages too. Although the story may seem a cliché today, one can
appreciate how it may have been read: high hopes for man- made tech-
nology to artificially enhance human capabilities are cruelly dashed by
complacency, hubris, and unanticipated consequences. 31
Yet the dream that men could somehow fly like birds far above the earth
did not die with Icarus. After all, in the myth Daedalus and Icarus did
become airborne and flew successfully, and— despite the high cost of
his innovation— Daedalus himself survived the flight to Sicily. Humans
hitching rides on birds and insects are featured in Aristophanes’s plays,
in Aesop’s fables, and in ancient Persian traditions. A unique ancient
“science fiction” about human flight was written by Lucian of Samosata
(b. ca. AD 125). In Icaromenippus (or “The Sky Man”), Lucian’s popular
tale, the philosopher Menippus imitates Daedalus and makes himself a
pair of wings to fly to the moon. On his voyage, he observes that earth-
lings resemble tiny ants scurrying about meaninglessly. 32
One of the most memorable flying “machine” designs in antiquity
appears in the Alexander Romance legends, in which Alexander is con-
sumed by the desire to explore two great unknowns, the heavens and the
oceans. He harnesses the power of birds to fly and dives like a fish in the
deep sea, thanks to two inventions. One device is decidedly magical but
the other involves technological ingenuity.
Alexander’s diving bell required creative technology. His discovery of
a huge crab and giant pearls on a beach fuels Alexander’s wish to explore
the mysterious depths of the ocean and see its denizens for himself. In